November 12th Production

Wow! It has been quite a while since I've posted anything on the blog.  Hmm....
Well, hello everyone!  

Thespian Production is currently putting together a one-act play festival for Nov. 12th in NYC.  It's a Saturday and there will be two performances - at 5pm and 8pm.  We wanted to keep this festival light-hearted and full of comedy and laughter.  Have you ever done anything completely silly or foolish? And now looking back, you think to yourself "If I only knew then what I know now".  We can all relate to that, I''m sure!  To put all the bloopers we have committed into one play would be impossible, but it surely is fun to think about. As you may have guessed, that is the theme of this showcase.

So, all you playwrights, with the theme in mind, submit your play to thespianproductioninc@gmail.com.  Please keep it 10-15 minutes in length and limit the vulgar language as much as possible.  A couple of slips are OK but not in every other sentence.  No more than four characters as well. We love to produce unpublished works, but published works are very welcome.  And as far as directors for each play, Thespian Production will take care of that.  If you are a playwright and would prefer to also direct your own play, we are definitely open to that as well.

The production will be held at:

Joria Mainstage Theater

410 W. 47th St.   2nd floor

New York, NY  10036

More information will be posted on the website within the week.  So keep a look out for that!

www.thespianproduction.com or
info@thespianproductioninc.com

"Whistling With Slush in My Shoes" Spring Play Festival

Hello Thespians!

It's time to kick off the 2015 theater season.  Our first show, "Whistling With Slush in My Shoes" one-act Spring play festival will be in NYC April 23-25.  We have some wonderful new directors and a few directors who have been around the block with us for this production.  It has been a long, cold winter in New York and we want to celebrate Spring's arrival.

Also, this will be Thespian Production's first full year as a 501c3 nonprofit organization.  After two years of filing various papers and all the waiting, we finally got the nonprofit status July 2014.  We are looking forward to promoting new and upcoming directors, actors, and playwrights in NYC. The 2015 season will be the best yet.

We hope you can make it out to our first production of 2015.  The actors and directors have been working hard, not to mention the work of the playwrights whose writing is awesome.  We had hundreds of play submissions and narrowing it down to twelve was a difficult task.  We also have the fabulous sound and lights guru, Christopher Mas, with us once again, as well as our stage manager extraordinaire, Emily Rosko. However, here is the lineup for the "Whistling With Slush in My Shoes" production:

APRIL 23RD 8PM @ APRIL 25TH 8PM 

OF TRASH AND TIFFANY             directed by Jonathan Phipps           written by Max Gutmann

When Holly and her new girlfriend break into the apartment of her ex, Erin, they don't find what they expect. Will Holly get her belongings back? What will Holly's new girlfriend think when she learns about Erin's crazy hobby?

UNDER PROTEST                        directed by Bruce "Master B" Baek  written by David L. Williams

When a woman is mistakenly brought in for participating in an illegal protest, a government official must admit he is wrong or twist the world to make sure that he is right.

APPLE BETTY                             directed by Johnny Culver              written by Johnny Culver

Verna’s mother, Claudine, is 85 and works nights...

LIGHTS                                     dircted by Michael Herman              written by Lindsay Infantino

Surrounded by paint buckets, baby name books, and Swedish instructions, Francie and Jim are confronted with their illusions about the future and each other.

BATHROOM DELIGHT                 directed by Emma Gilding                written by Michele Kushner

Frank locks himself in the bathroom in hopes of escaping the woman in his bed and his destiny with romance.

     APRIL 24TH 8PM AND APRIL 25TH 3PM    

 MEETING MATT DAMON             directed by Alex Acevedo                 written by Ron Burch

 Hilary's dream has been to meet Matt Damon and here he is now! Maybe...

 SECRETS OF SERVICE                 directed by Steve Berczik                 written by Steve Berczik

 The consequences of a secret service agent's participation in abusing the press should not remain secret, should it?

 O. HENRY'S SHOE                      directed by Lauren Z. Adleman          written by Mark Saunders

   An older man missinga shoe persuades a younger man to give him one of his in this morality tale about modern generosity. 

 HUMORLESS                              directed by Colleen Hughes              written by David Susman

   When a sitcom writer inexplicably loses his ability to make jokes--any jokes--he turns to a colleague for help.

 NAKED                                      directed by Francesca Di Cesare       written by Morley Shulman

"Marty and Fran are on the WORST blind date of their lives- only they're on the WRONG date!"

Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1311784

Pumpkins, Poison, and Plays...Oh My!

Spooky times are fast approaching!

Thespian Production will be presenting it Pumpkins, Poison, and Plays...Oh My! Halloween one-act play festival Oct. 16-18 in NYC.  Come enjoy a red, bloody glass of wine, sit amongst the zombies, and enjoy the chills and thrills.  BUT be careful, don't let the spiders trap you in their web!  They may be crawling everywhere!  So enter the theater at your own risk and if you dare!

Once again, we have the wonderful artistic director extraordinaire, Walid Chaya, and the wonderful stage production manager, Emily Rosko, who are beautifully putting the show together.  The directors and cast have diligently been working to bring you a screaming good time.

Presenting...

THE MOTHER PROBLEM       written by Stacy Post                          directed by Kathe Mull

A DOLL'S LIFE                          written by Martha Patterson               directed by Johnny Culver

DEEDS                                        written by Thomas Miscuraca            directed by Ryan Thornhill

THE BLOOD LETTERS             written by Tyler Grant McPherson    directed by Nick Hrutkay

BOLT CUTTER MAN                written by Aaron Levy                       directed by Dennis Gleason

HER GREATEST WORK           written and directed by Nick Probst

Tickets are available at www.thespianproduction.com  or at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/880663

Laugh Til it Hurts!...A Comedy Competition

Laugh Til it Hurts...A Comedy Competition

Thespian Production would like to invite everyone to come out and see some of the newest and freshest faces of comedy in NYC.  We have the funny and talented comedian herself, Caty Nicholson, hosting the show.  You, the audience, will get to choose NYC's freshest face of comedy. Check out the information below.

                                                                                            

Just a couple side notes:  Adult content may be included.  We wouldn't want to hurt small ears!

                   Tickets are available at www.thespianproduction.com on the home page.

Upcoming Events!

We at Thespian Production have some exciting events coming up!  On Sept. 20th in NYC, is our first comedy showcase, Laugh Til It Hurts, is featuring some of NYC's newest and freshest faces in comedy.  Comedian, Caty Nicholson, will be hosting this event and she is crazy, funny in her own right.  Even better, is you, the audience, will decide who NYC's newest face of comedy will be.  So come on out and support the comedians and you will surely "Laugh Til It Hurts".

Also, on October 16-18 will be our Halloween one-act play festival, "Pumpkins, Poison, and Plays...Oh My!".  So enter the theater if you dare!  Enjoy a free glass of bloody wine, be entertained and frightened with some spine-tingling plays at the same time.  See some of NYC's up and coming playwrights and directors.

More information for all events are available on the website at www.thespianproduction.com.

Meet the "Limelight" Playwrights - Shirley King & Theo Gallagher (Part One)

Thespian Production is doing a series on the directors and playwrights for its "Limelight: Go Green" playfest which is being held July 17-19 in NYC.  We want you to meet them and learn what makes them who they are.  We asked them a few questions - how they got into their field, their viewpoints on going green, and other interesting tidbits.  We will be talking with other directors and playwrights each week, so stay tuned to the blog.


Let's meet Shirley King!  She is the playwright of Blinking in Treetops.  Anyone can obviously see the humor in Shirley's play and her overall style. She says "At my age, just being able to get up in the morning inspires me to write. I love being "in the zone" and that's exactly what happens when I work on a play. I can see my characters and hear their voices. I write mostly comedies but even in those I sometimes send messages about what really matters here on earth. "  We all need to keep humor in our lives even when dealing with the seriousness of issues concerning our planet.  Shirley's approach is "I think going green is essential, not only for us but for future generations and our planet. We need to be respectful and protective of Mother Earth as well as her inhabitants. I put all yard clippings in the green bin, take slightly used clothing and other items to Goodwill and recycle paper and debris carried by the wind into my yard.  At the very last minute, I regularly dash out in my nightgown to deposit one more empty paper towel roll in the brown bin.  My neighbors laugh at me, but that's okay.  What I do says I was here, doing my best to help our planet survive.

Now let's meet Theo Gallagher!  Theo says "There once was a chemistry teacher who is now a playwright. When I tell people that, the laughter sometimes lasts longer than most of my plays.I am a people watcher and to paraphrase an old TV show - People do the darnedest things. Every once in a while an action, an idea, or a brief comment hits me as odd, and I have to write about it. And every so often, a very nice theatre group asks for a play which I just happen to have an idea for."  However, Theo's beliefs about going green range on both spectrums - a natural phenomenon and mankind. "I believe that "Going Green" has been hijacked by Madison Avenue. It has become a means to sell products which are in themselves not green. It has created a “drop in the bucket” philosophy which has little or no effect on the problems. After teaching chemistry and physics for thirty years, I have come to believe that one can prove almost anything if you choose the right data group. The same data has been used to predict an ice-age in the 60's and global warming today. There actually was the little iceage which lasted from 1300 through the end of the 1700's in both Europe and the Americas. Glaciers started melting in the late 1700's and now it's mankind’s fault. How can mankind be blamed for a natural phenomenon. Mankind should work on those areas for which mankind is responsible i.e. ozone depletion from CFCs, pesticide pollution of streams, deforestation, and industrial pollution. They should not attempt to correct Mother Nature."  Certainly a different perspective!    

  

Meet the "Limelight" Directors - Gama Valle & John DeBenedetto (Part One)

Thespian Production is doing a series on the directors and playwrights for its "Limelight: Go Green" playfest which is being held July 17-19 in NYC.  We want you to meet them and learn what makes them who they are.  We asked them a few questions - how they got into their field, their viewpoints on going green, and other interesting tidbits.  We will be talking with other directors and playwrights each week, so stay tuned to the blog.

One of the directors, Gama Valle, is a director for the play, Talkin' Trash.  Like he said "I went into directing because I wanted to see my plays on stage. I started in theater as a playwright. As any playwright should know, it is really hard to get opportunities to see your work alive. So I decided not to wait. I discovered I could direct and fell in love with it. I still write though."  As a playwright myself, I agree with Gama that having the chance to see your work put on live is a rare opportunity.  As we all know, there are many viewpoints and beliefs about going green.  What are the causes and implications for our planet?    Gama has his own viewpoint - "The bigger change will finally come when everyone sees the reality of our planet and take it seriously. It is important to keep educating and trying to practice it in one's daily life."  Perhaps everyone should claim a little responsibility for our planet's health.  However, Gama does have one pet peeve that he feels strongly about - he gets angry when people criticize Mariah Carey!

John DeBenedetto is a director for the play Deja Columbus.  I was not surprised that John was drawn to this play because of its historical context and the fact he is a teacher.  John is also a director, but as he says "I started out as an actor.  And, though I was happy to create a character each time I worked on a role, the idea of coming up with a vision for a whole play always intrigued me.  Once I started to direct, that desire to create an entire world proved to be even more exciting than I'd imagined.  That excitement has continued to this day.  I also like the idea of collaboration, as a director must work hand-in-hand with the actors, designers, tech people, etc."  But what about working together to conserve our planet?  Is climate change really happening?  John has a great viewpoint - "I have always been environmentally conscious, recycling, conserving water, electricity, etc..  But with the effects of global warming becoming ever more evident, the whole concept of "going green" is one of the most important topics people today must face."  There are those who agree with global warming and those who do not, but we will surely all see in the future.

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